Model toy train manufacturers typically make toy models, or replicas of existing or historical trains. Model toy train manufactures make locomotives or engines, box cars, cabooses and many other things. As to the toy train locomotive or engine and its real world counterpart the similarities are little more than in appearance. In terms of external appearance, both real world and toy train engines include truck assemblies having a plurality of wheels positioned on the tracks. Typically each truck assembly rotates about its central axis allowing the train to negotiate turns in the track.
Notwithstanding their visual similarity, real world train engines and toy train engines use very different power sources. Real world train engines are powered by coal fired boilers, gas turbines and diesels while toy train engines are powered by electric motors which receive their power from the train track. A significant difference caused by the different power sources used in real world and model toy train engines is how the power is transferred to the wheels of the truck assemblies to move the train engines forward.
In real world train engines, such as diesel or gas turbine train engines, the diesel or gas turbine generates electricity which is supplied to electric motors. The electric motors are positioned within one or more truck assemblies and drive the wheels positioned on the track. Because the electric motors are positioned within the truck assemblies the truck assemblies may freely turn about their own axes allowing the real world train to negotiate a corner.
In contrast, the electric motors of model toy train engines power the wheels of the truck assemblies through drives shafts. To do this, the drive shafts of the electric motors are positioned directly over the central axis of each truck assembly. In this way the truck assembly can rotate about its axis, and the electric motor remains positioned within the model toy train body.
Positioning the electric motors in model toy train engines on the central axis of the truck assemblies has limited model toy train manufactures to providing toy train engines having no more than two driven truck assemblies. This is because two points define any curve.
Therefore, there is a need to provide a model toy train motor assembly for model toy trains having more than two truck assemblies.